Tennis coverage in Australia tapers off quickly once the Australian Open and the first round of Davis Cup matches complete. But in under a month, attention turns to a tournament where Australians have long struggled to find their feet – the French Open.
It seems a while since Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt knocked off Roger Federer to win the title in Brisbane, before he himself was kicked out of the Australian Open the first round along with troubled Australian youngster Bernard Tomic.
Since Australia we have had three Masters 1000 events, with two to come in Madrid and Rome in preparation for the second Grand Slam of the year. Novak Djokovic stood tall in March, defeating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in finals at Indian Wells and Miami respectively.
After his success in America, the Davis Cup quarter-finals had arrived. Italy, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic made their way through to the next stage of this prestigious event.
In April, Australian Open winner Stanislav Wawrinka was back to his best in Monte Carlo. The third Masters 1000 event went to the Swiss star as he defeated fellow countryman Roger Federer on clay – another runner-up finish for Federer, though you have to admire his consistency.
A surprise occurred in Barcelona, where clay-court master Rafael Nadal bailed out in just the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 event. Kei Nishikori continued his solid season with a title victory.
This brings us to the present, where tournaments are being played in both Germany and Portugal.
The BMW Open is on in Munich, and unfortunately for Hewitt and fellow Australian Marinko Matosevic their campaigns are already over,as it is for countryman Matthew Ebden in Oeiras.
Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic are the top-two seeds at the Portugal Open and are expected to play off in the final later in the week, while Tommy Haas and Fabio Fognini are the favourites in Germany.
Nadal remains on top of the world rankings, with Djokovic, Wawrinka, Federer and David Ferrer rounding out the top five. Andy Murray has slipped noticeably, and is now down to eighth on the ATP Official rankings.
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